The last decade was all bout long and straight hair with shades between the blonde and the brownette. We can see it everywhere, in fashion magazines, cosmetic or fragrance ads, like the recent Gucci Flora movie and Lancôme Hypnôse Senses. But there is something more here and I'm not very happy to notice it. In the recent launches (since about 2007) I noticed that many feminine fragrances share something like a shampoo note (the fresh fruity type). Some of them are very "thin" in terms of odor and seem to me rather shampoo fragrances than fine fragrances. I do not dislike the shampoo effect in a fragrance. There are some great creations like Estée Super or Azurée (and even in No5 Eau Première) where this note is very pleasant and rich and blends perfectly with the natural feminine scent. They are divine when sprayed on hair. Narciso Rodriguez for her has a wonderful trail in hair and you can try also some drops of the musk oil (the same with Bronze Goddess or any tiaré salycilate perfume).
But all these are good fine fragrances and scenting the hair comes as a natural gesture. Being inspired by the scents of shampoos can be useful but bringing their "poor" quality into the universe of fine fragrances, without richness can be a dangerous and deceiving exercise.
But all these are good fine fragrances and scenting the hair comes as a natural gesture. Being inspired by the scents of shampoos can be useful but bringing their "poor" quality into the universe of fine fragrances, without richness can be a dangerous and deceiving exercise.
Photo OldJapan
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11 commentaires:
This is EXACTLY what has been the problem with many new releases: they seem like upgrades from detergent recipes! A result of dumping down and the criterion for freshness being synonymous now with lathery products (they;re not interchangeable and fine fragrance even if fresh should compliment bath products, not replicate them; we agree on that)
On the other hand, I have been searching by and large for a scent that would replicate the GORGEOUS coumarinic vibe of Felce Azzura by Paglieri bath products which I love using in the summer. Any ideas?
I do scent my (long) hair with Narciso Musk (its silicone base keeps flyways too)as well as the Dior Bronze gel (another tiare salicylate scent, as you succinctly note). They seem to project very well in that medium.
I like the idea of "upgraded detergents". It is indeed a freshness that is too basic and not very far from its source of inspiration.
I do not know that paglieri bath product :(((
Now, I do imagine you like a greek goddess! (or is it more Circe? :)
I've almost forgotten the Dior, that is also very, very good in hair.
I think that also elixir de merveilles would do miracles as a hair scent (the perfume is already a salycilate airy amber) and also some light ambery notes.
LOL!
Circe tickles my fancy, quelle idee! (I like it, mind you).
Let me send you some of the Paglieri (mail me with a shipping address): it's a very individual bath scent, very powdery-mossy, very Mediterrannean (lots of coumarin, eugenol, citronellol).
I should try the Elixir des Merveilles, hadn't thought of it! :-) Another one in that type is Aquasun by Lancaster (not the Aquasun Senses flanker nor the Sunwater ~which is a different scent, oddly enough since they both mean the same thing!!)
So well put dear Octavian. Did you smell the new Cristalle? The greenish new Chance? I was sniffing aimlessly after buying some cosmetics and...there it is, a detergent of sorts
El, you smell and look mahvelous! I'd love you two to do a collaborative post on the arcane subject of what scents hair so well and why!
On the subject of scents smelling like other scented products (or is it mostly a fresh soapy note you are talking about?) I fear that we may have started it on this side of the pond -- children here in the US are said to smell a rose and say "it smells like room freshener" and I didn't believe it until it happened to me with a neighbor child I called over to my rose bush.
Since my nose seems unable to differentiate between many contemporary synthetics in use since the mid-seventies it seems, I have had this sensation for quite a while, as my nose just sort of lumps a whole group of scents together.
I notice that here in the US we scent our products so terrible differently from France. We would never have anything pear or almond scented here, rather focus on bizarre abstractions of reality like "mountain air" "ocean breeze" "tropical paradise" so mainstream perfumes are not far off!
Qwendy, I've had the same type of comment in France, from college-educated adults, about lily-of-the-valley fragrances I was testing... And the terrible thing is, they're not always so far off the bat.
Tons of European shampoos are fruity now. I've fallen back on René Furterer, who seem to favor citrus or woody fragrances for their products. I'll be damned if I put fruities in my hair after avoiding them in fragrances.
Also, I spray *all* my perfumes in my hair.
I guess this huge fruity trend in fragrances is linked to the increase of consumer tests, people prefer what smell clean, fresh and well-known when they smell in blind, and fruity notes are famous to "test well". That's why all commercial fragrances are often fruity and vice-versa.
I personnaly like Klorane shampoo scents, the one with "huile de vison" is L'Air du Temps inspiration...
Hi Octavian, being a relative newcomer to the world of perfume I'm really not qualified to say but I have also noticed this thin, detergent type smell in many recent offerings. It first really struck me when sampling Eau Premiere (as you mentioned in your article) but to me this note/quality seemed to render the fragrance 'insubstantial' smelling - if that makes sense. Going by yourself and many others around fragrance blogs, there is much love for this scent and I'm baffled as to why I don't get it! Many times I've attempted to purchase it as a gift for someone but alas, I can never follow through.
RM,
That's strange what you say about Eau Première. Is it the first impression, I mean the top notes, or it is the over all impression?
The same thing I do not like in many new launches is also the lack of "complex shades". The scent is thin, easy and there is not so much surprise about it. :(
It's the overall impression I get - well only from spraying on a card and consistently checking it through the course of the day. Maybe on skin it's a different story perhaps?
Yes and I completely agree with the lack of "complex shades" statement. I often wonder how a perfumer could be satisfied with a fragrance that projects very little character, is linear and has no point of view.
Maybe because he is asked to create such thing or he doesn't care anymore. Just a brief, a work not .... a "work of art". :(
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